Author archives

Update on Impact of Super DMCA Legislation

Resources and news of note on Super DMCA legislation (“to combat broadband and communications piracy”) that is proliferating at the state level, driven in large measure by relentless lobbying on the part of the Motion Picture Assocation of America (MPAA), and which, for the most part, is based on the organization’s proposed model legislation. The …

Subjects: Copyright, Freedom of Information, Legislation, Libraries, PC Security, Privacy

RSS: An Alternative to Search Engines?

Danny Sullivan presents Part II of his review of RSS services and applications that facilitate access to the continuously expanding world of news, blogs and topical information. He recommends several RSS search engines, including Feedster and rssSearch. Part I of his article is available here and lists examples of news aggregators and how to use …

Subjects: Internet, RSS, Search Engines

Tech Book Publisher Allows Titles to Pass Into Public Domain

O’Reilly & Associates, a leading publisher of books on computer technologies, announced it will adopt the Founders’ Copyright from the Creative Commons project, “that allows copyright holders to voluntarily release their works to the public after the period envisioned in the original 1790 US copyright law–14 years, with the option of one 14-year extension.” The …

Subjects: Copyright

Ohio Bill Seeks to Limit Public Access to Gov't Docs Online

Via an e-mail from Mary Alice Baish, AALL Washington Affairs Representative: “Thanks to a trio of very alert law librarians in Ohio, Billie J. Grey, Gail McCain and Al Podboy, for notifying us of a state bill, the Electronic Government Services Act (H.B. 145), that would prevent agencies from providing access to government information and …

Subjects: E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents

Advocacy Group Files Privacy Complaint Against eBay

Junkbusters Corp., an organization whose declared mission is to stop spam, sent a letter to the FTC on April 22 requesting that the agency investigate discrepancies in the privacy statements posted by eBay as they result in the dissemination of personal data without customer knowledge. Junkbusters President Jason Catlett contends that eBay’s use of two …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Privacy

MT Owners Will Release Competitor to Blogger

Movable Type founders Ben and Mena Trott announced that their company Six Apart Ltd. will soon release “TypePad, a hosted service providing powerful tools for creating full-featured weblogs.” See also, Eyeing Blogger, Creators of Movable Type Expand. Looks as if Google now has some formidable competition in the BlogSphere!

Subjects: Blogs

Online Docket Databases Speed Research

Getting Wired Is Part of Research reviews technology options available to access online court dockets and filings from federal and state courts. Two services mentioned are the comprehensive CourtExpress.com (fee-based) and CourtWeb (which is limited to selected rulings from participating U.S. District Court judges).

Subjects: Legal Research

ABA 2003 Lawyer Survey Available Online

From the ABA’s Market Research Department, news that the 2003 ABA National Lawyer Population Survey is available here. In addition to this data, the site provides access to other ABA research and statistics about the profession (demographics, women in law, salaries, quality of life, law firm rankings, corporate counsel, etc.) as well as links to …

Subjects: Marketing

CDC Provides SARS Resource Guide

The Centers for Disease Control has a launched a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) website, which is updated daily. This site is an excellent example of the power of a content-driven e-gov resource whose goal is to educate the public and disseminate accurate, topical, current information. See also this excellent resource on the subject from …

Subjects: E-Government